Mr Bailey said Mr Katter had given him his support despite the party’s national director, Aidan McLindon, having earlier called to ask him to withdraw his candidacy for one of the two Senate seats in the ACT.

Following Mr McLindon's call, Mr Bailey said: ''I won’t be stepping down. It’s a decision the party has to make.''

''I was directed by the president to call Steven Bailey this morning to ask if he could step down of his own accord given that his position on marriage was in direct conflict with the Katter's Australian Party’s core values and principles.''

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Mr Katter’s endorsement of a pro-gay marriage candidate had angered some within the party who thought he had abandoned his commitment to family values.

The party’s platform states that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The former national secretary, Bernard Gaynor, said that ''numerous members'' of Katter’s Australian Party had contacted him on Thursday saying they had resigned because of Mr Bailey’s appointment.

''Bob [Katter] has been unwilling to stand by the party’s values,’’ he said. ‘‘I have always known Bob to be violently opposed to gay marriage.’’

Mr Gaynor was suspended from the party last month after he tweeted that he would not let gay people teach his children.

Mr Bailey said he would not renege on his beliefs even if it would be politically wise for him to do so.

''The Australian public would not believe me if I changed my position on this in the next 24 hours.''

Mr Bailey maintained that the ‘‘thrust’’ of Mr Katter’s party was ''good''.

''If we are going to be a party for the whole of Australia we need to have these debates,'' he said.

Mr Bailey was introduced to Mr Katter through a mutual friend and the two met for the first time last September at Parliament House, he said.

A one-hour meeting turned into a five-hour discussion and lunch. The meeting and others since had convinced Mr Bailey that Katter’s Australian Party was open-minded enough to accommodate young people with diverse views.

Asked if he had joined Katter's party to strike a blow for gay rights and if he was a member of any lobby or activist group, Mr Bailey replied: "Absolutely not. I just said what I said to be honest with the Australian public. It's not my intention to campaign for gay rights.''

Mr Bailey said what appealed to him about the party was it was ''one of fairness'' in terms of its jobs policies and it had a commitment to nation building and water supply.

Another candidate for Katter’s Australian Party, Tess Corbett, withdrew her nomination recently for the federal seat of Wannon in Victoria after she claimed that paedophiles would be ''next in line to be recognised in the same way as gays and lesbians and get rights''.